Bleeding Hearts and Memories
by Pandora the Damned
Summary: A woman comes to Pop Star in a state that raises a few questions. She causes Meta Knight to wonder if the war with Nightmare is really over.
1. Chapter 1

It had been almost 2 years since Nightmare, and almost everything had gone back to what everyone assumed was normal. King Dedede seemed to complain more than usual about nearly everything but that as most likely because the Demon Beasts from Holy Nightmare had been his leading form of entertainment. Now he just kind of sat around, yelled at the villagers, and hung around in his throne room, pushing the button on his key pad that was supposed to make Customer Service show up. However, all that greeted his was static.

Everyone else in Pupu Village seemed to have fallen into stride with not having to worry about being attacked by a demon beast every week. It seemed as if nothing had ever happened. At least… until a ship crash landed right outside Whispy Woods.

It happened before anyone knew it happened. There was a flash, like an atomic bomb being set off, and then the sound of metal churning up dirt as the ship slowed to a stop.

Fumu, Bun, and Kirby were in the village when it happened it happened. Fumu and Bun glanced at each other as if to say, '_Oh, no. Not again,'_ they, along with a whole lot of other people ran as fast as they could to a steaming and dented ship that slightly resembled Silica's ship, only it was a piercing shade of black. The nose of the ship was half buried under a mound of dirt and was covered in long and deep scratches.

The hatch opened, letting out a cloud of acrid smoke that caused everyone. A woman stumbled out of the ship, couching and hacking. When the smoke cleared, everyone got a good look at her.

She was like a wolf, covered in sleek black fur and her ears twitched with every sound that met them. A long, black, puffy tail swayed behind her as she examined her surroundings.

Fumu could hardly understand how this wolf lady could look so calm. She looked terrible. Blood matted her fur almost everywhere. Her arm was splinted with a piece of broken wood that was hardly doing its job. The bone jutted out for her skin hideously. She looked as if she had been wearing a dress, but the bottom of it had been replaced by burned and muddy cargo pants. The upper half of her would-be dress seemed to have had the sleeves completely ripped off which turned it into a tank top. It looked as if it had used to be white, but now it was a dark brownish grey, with a ruddy stain on it that looked a lot like blood.

Meta Knight, Sword a Blade seemed to appear at Fumu, Bun, and Kirby's side out of nowhere, swords drawn, "Where did she come from?" Sword mused, as much to his companions as to himself.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Blade replied.

Fumu stepped up to the ship, "Excuse me? Who are you?"

"I'll tell you in a minute. Gimmee a sec to get my bearings," she said pulling a large duffel bag out of the ship's hatch and tossing it on the ground.

Blade stepped up to the bag and nudged it with his sword.

"Buddy, touch that bag again and my claws are going to meet your face," she growled without turning around. Her hand reached over her back to a sword that was almost as long as her and pulled it out. It glistened menacingly as she turned around to face the Cappy's.

"Ok then," she said, her voice hard, but polite, "Which one of you asked me who I was?"

Fumu nervously stepped forward, "I did,"

Her face softened as she put the sword away "I'm Rin. You mind telling me which ball of dirt I crash landed on?"

Meta Knight stepped forward, "This is Pop Star. What is your business here?"

"That depends. Does accidentally crash landing on an unfamiliar planet count as business? No? Well then I guess I don't have business here." She hopped off her ship, and her leg buckled under her. Gritting her teeth, she spoke again, "But… my arm is fractured pretty badly, I have a bit more than cuts and bruises, and I think my leg is dislocated," Rin tried to stand, but plopped back onto the grass when she heard a popping sound coming from her left leg, "Yeah, something's not right in that leg."

Suddenly, everyone heard the revving of a car. King Dedede's jeep scattered the crowd in a matter of seconds, "Move it! Move it! What's the matter with everyone?!" then he saw the crippled wolf leaning up against her ship, "What are you doing here?"

Rin sighed, "Didn't I just establish that I'm only here by some freak chance of nature?"

Meta Knight stepped up to the king, "Sire, this woman is in critically injured. I am asking you to allow her space in your castle,"

"Ha! And Why would I do that?" the king scoffed

"Trust me, I don't need your help," she growled, "I'd rather have a doctor than a king mending my bones,"

The king scoffed, and hopped back into his jeep, which was driven by a large snail with green goatee. It was about now that a bit of the crowd around began to disperse until only Fumu, Bun, Kirby, and the three knights remained.

"You really should see a doctor," Fumu said to Rin, "We have one it town,"

"Good, now, if you don't mind waiting a second…" she took her sword, sheath and all, used it as a temporary crutch. But gestured towards her duffel bag, "What do you want to do with that?"

"I got it," Blade said, hoisting onto his shoulder

"If anything in there gets damaged, you'll be paying for it with your head,"

"Ok, ok, we get the point. Be careful," Blade sighed, and they slowly made their way towards the village.

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Rin left Dr. Yabui's looking a bit better than she had when had landed on Pop Star. Her arm had been stitched up and splinted properly as had her leg. Chest was bandaged from her collar bone to her stomach. The blood was washed off of her face and she was walking with a proper crutch. It was twilight now, and Kirby had left for bed. Meta Knight, Sword and Blade disappeared somewhere, leaving Fumu and Bun with Rin. Blade had left the duffel bag outside of Yabui's office after yet more threats from Rin.

"Where are you going to be staying?" Bun asked

"I was about to ask the same question," Rin asked, Fumbling with her newly done pony tail

"Bun! Of course she'll be staying in the castle!" Fumu said

"She will?"

"I will?"

"Yes! There's an old guest room that the king never uses. He'll never know you're here and you'll have a place to stay until you're well enough,"

"Suite's me," Rin shrugged, "Anything's better than being crammed inside a miniscule spaceship for 4 days," And so she let Fumu and Bun lead her to her knew, temporary home."

**Grrr I did ****not**** like the way I wrote the first chapter! But, it's for you decide if it's any good. Review! Review! Review! Review!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

Rin was half alseep, her eyes were open (barely), but she hardly noticed her surroundings. A small room with stone walls and a small but surprisingly comfortable bed.

The door opened a crack, and that was all she needed to snap awake.

A dagger flew past Meta Knight, mere milimeters away from imbedding itself into his mask. Still, he remained calm, showing no realization that he had almost been killed, "Perhaps I should have knocked first?"

"Might have been best," Rin grunted, wincing as she sat up, "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're here to interrogate me about my background and were I came from and stuff?"

"…In a manner of speaking,"

"My home planet is called Ephira," she began, "but, I haven't been there since I was a kid,"

"How old are you exactly?"

"I'd say I was about 5,000, give or take a few years," she said casually, "That's probably the equivalent to about 25 or something,"

"…What do you have in that bag of yours that's worth protecting? I saw you snap at Blade Knight when he touched it,"

"Well, if you really want to know…" she dragged the duffel bag out from under the bed and unzipped it, "Let's see..." she started emptying the contents, "Gun. Gun. Gun. Gun. Hey look! Another gun! Gun. Gun. BIG gun. Answer your question?"

"What about this?" Meta Knight asked, pulling out a wrinkled and burnt photo, "Who are these people?"

"What? Give that back!" she shouted, snatching the picture out of his grasp before he could do anything about it, "that's the last picture I have of what was the crippled remains my family. My little sister, Azami, and my fiancé, Caliban. She turned the picture so that Meta Knight could see. A little dark grey wolf girl was grinning childishly at the camera. Rin was in the middle, she was wrapped in the arms of a wolf man who was a half head taller than her. He had mostly black fur, save a few white streaks flecked across his face.

"Where are they now? Along with the rest of their family?" Meta Knight asked, although he already new the answer

"Caliban and Azami are dead. Eaten," her voice was hard, but Meta Knight heard a unmistakable quiver of grief along with it, "My parents, Lupus and Hisa were Star Warriors. They had such high hopes for me,"

"You're a Star Warrior as well?"

"Hell no! I was supposed to be, but I refused. After my family was killed, I was kind of a rogue. I fought on the same side as the Star Warriors, but was never really _with_ them,"

"But why? You seem to be skilled in fighting and you do not hesitate to kill,"

"Does there have to be a reason to everything? It was forced upon me. I had no choice. The Star Warriors were losing. I was being forced into a slaughter," she fingered a gun that lay next to her.

"How many weapons do you have?" Meta Knight asked, "Remove all that you have,"

"Fine," she said, scowling. As many guns as there were in the duffel bag, there seemed to be twice as many knives that she kept on her. She pulled knives from out of her boots, pockets, hair, she even reached down the neck of her shirt and pulled out a knife about the size of a letter opener. Meta Knight stared at her.

"Are you just going to stand there and ogle me, because if not, I'm kind of tired," she snapped

"How did you get in your current state? Nightmare has been dead for two years. Surely the demon beasts have dispersed,"

At this, Rin laughed. A hard, barking laugh that contained no happiness, "You don't really believe that load of crap, do you?"

Meta Knight remained silent.

"You seriously think he's dead? My god do I have news for you!"

"He still lives?"

"No, he's gone, but not dead. He has a successor, in case he was actually brought down. A puppet that he could influence if he ever lost his physical form,"

"So you were fighting before you came here?"

"You ever heard of the planet Thiazzi?"

"Yes,"

"It is completely overrun with demon beasts," Rin explained, "It's a wasteland. Every soul that was once good is dead, broken, or enslaved. And that's not the only planet. I could name 10 more planets that are in similar condition. I was sorry to see Pipi fall,"

"How is Princess Rona? Did she survive?"

"You mean Queen Rona?" Rin corrected, "I don't know, it's possible for sure. That chick has spunk. I wouldn't be surprised if she survived,"

"Fumu-kun will be grieved to hear the news," Meta Knight said to himself as much as Rin, "Is there a chance that anything followed you?"

"They gave up on me once I made a mad dash through a belt of asteroids. I think one of them might have found me on Earth, so I didn't stay there long either,"

"Did you attract any attention?" Meta Knight asked, the interrogation had ended, now he was just a bit curious.

"My god, you have no idea!" Rin chuckled, "Those earthlings blow literally EVERYTHING out of proportion! You make like, 1 crop circle and they assume the world is coming to an end! It's ridiculous!"

Meta Knight nodded, not sure whether to laugh at this or remain stony.

Rin's ears twitched, "There's someone outside the door," she said, walking over to the door and pulling it open. Sword and Blade stumbled in, "Great, I'm here for half an hour and I already have a pair of stalkers,"

"Rin, these are Sword Knight and Blade Knight. They are my subordinates," Meta Knight introduced

"Good to meet you," she said gruffly, grasping each knight's hand and giving it a good shake.

"Er… yeah, you too," Sword said, clearly not appreciating being called a stalker

"Sword-dono, Blade-dono," Meta Knight said, grabbing the attention of the two knights, "We are finished here. We must take our leave,"

Meta Knight turned back to Rin, "We are not finished with our discussion. To protect yourself and those around you, do not expose your past,"

"Dur! I already knew that! How do you think I've survived for so long?"

Meta Knight did not respond. Instead, he left, Sword and Blade following him.

Rin collapsed on her bed with a yelp of pain. Unable to sleep now. Her interrogation had brought up too many unpleasant memories.


	3. Chapter 3

**FYI, I am upping the rating to M, because later chapters will most likely contain blood, gore, and some questionable romancey crap. Ok? Just a heads up. Enjoy! **

"_Azami!" Rin cried as she and Caliban had ran through the door of their house, "Azami! Where are you?"_

_There came no reply._

"_AZAMI!!!" Rin yelled at the top of her lungs. Still nothing._

"_I'll check the back," Caliban said, unsheathing a long steel blade, "You stay here,"_

"_No!" Rin shouted, unsheathing her sword as well, "She's my sister, and I'm not going to have you go all macho on me! I can handle myself just as well as you!"_

"_I believe you," Caliban said, brushing a stray hair out of her face, "but I'd rather it be me than you,"_

_Rin pecked him on the cheek, "C'mon," she said bitterly, "I'm going to go find my sister,"_

_Rin kicked in the door to their room, swords at the ready. Rin paled at the sight._

_A huge, scaly wyrm took up most of the space in the room. Trapped under its claw was the lifeless form of Amazi. Her eyes were still open, but they contained no life. The little girl lay in a pool of her own blood._

"_No…" Rin said, her voice hardly a squeak, "Oh, god no…"Caliban slashed his sword at the dragon, causing deep gauges in its scaly hide, showering himself with blood._

_Rin suddenly gained control of her limbs, and with an expertly calculated swing of her blade, lobbed the head off of her sister's killer._

_The two heard a banging at the door, followed by threatening growls._

_Rin crouched down and kissed her sisters bloody face, "Wait for me, and give mom and dad my best," before facing the door, side by side with her fiancé, "Are you ready?"_

"_Are any of us?"_

_The door broke in on them, and a maroon dog, fur matter with blood, was snarling at them, foam leaking from its mouth. Heat seemed to emanate from the demon beast, causing the already uncomfortably humid air to become almost unbearable._

_The two barely had time to do anything. Caliban was struck down before the fight even begun, a bloody fang imbedded in his chest. Rin hurled herself out of the way of a fireball the Chilidog had shot at her, and used her sword to deflect another._

_The dog lunged at her, and she rolled out of the way. As she stood to fight again, she slipped in a pool of who-knows whose blood and landed awkwardly on her leg, feeling it pop out of the socket as it crumpled beneath her. _

_Chilidog lunged again, right as she got hold of her sword. He was on top of her when she shoved the blade through the dog's stomach and out its back. With a sort of sizzling sound, coupled with another snarl, the dog flopped on top of her, the heat emanating off of it raised to a searing pain._

_Rin shoved the demon beast off of her, and tried to stand. Pain shot through her leg as she lost her balance, falling back onto the splintered, bloody floor._

_She refused to glance at the dead forms of Azami and Caliban, for fear of losing it. Using the hilt of her sword as a crutch, she hauled herself off of the ground and hobbled to the door. She turned the handle and stepped into a ghost town. She was the only living being left._

_And then she was ambushed…._

Rin awoke, drenched in a cold sweat. She had thought that she would leave behind the memories of her past, but she was wrong.

Rin felt her eyes grow wet. Was she crying? No, she couldn't be crying. And yet, here were tears running down her cheeks. She forced herself to stop. She was not going to shed tears over something that she had spent weeks trying to forget.

She felt a need to walk around. The room wouldn't suffice, it was too small. She thought about the castle, knowing that if she was caught, she would be thrown out, or even arrested. When she decided that it was worth the risk. She pulled on her boots and slung her sword over her shoulder.

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Rin slowly paced the hallway outside of her room. Her wooden crutch clicked on the stone floor. It was a stupidly long hallway, so she could walk as far as she wanted, and it felt as if she was roaming more that one hallway. She lacked a candle or flashlight, but then, she didn't need any. Being a wolf, her eyes adjusted better to the dark. Basically, that meant that she had night vision.

There was a small movement near. Faster than should have been possible, she drew her sword with her free hand and swung it at the figure. Catching it off guard, it stumbled and fell, finding itself at the less pleasant end of Rin's sword.

"I kind of assumed you were jittery, but I didn't know it was this bad," the voice sounded familiar to her. It was that one knight. The one with the turquoise armor, "You're Sword, correct?"

"The one and only,"

She sheathed her sword and helped the knight up, "You would be jittery too if you had just watched your family get killed via memory,"

"I can relate," Sword confessed sheathing his sword

"So, what are you doing here? I was only kidding when I called you a stalker," Rin asked, doing the same with her sword

Sword almost laughed, "Believe me, I'm not stalking you. No, I have a far more boring job under Sir Meta Knight's orders,"

"Which is…"

"I have to keep lookout by your room. Sir Meta Knight doesn't trust you,"

Rin face-palmed, "My god, just because I refused to become a Star Warrior?"

"Because he's worried about your safety,"

"…Seriously?"

"Well, put it in his perspective," Sword explained, "If you go out and do something stupid, you could put everyone in danger. Not to mention that your story wasn't a bit questionable,"

A light bulb went of in Rin's head, "He doesn't want to believe that Nightmare's back, does he?" she saw the reluctancy to agree etched in Sword's body language. Finally, he sighed, "He wants to look at every possible explanation for your story. The one he agrees with most is the fact that you're paranoid out of grief,"

This pissed Rin off, "Paranoid?! Yes, I may have been a little jumpy from being _ambushed_ every other day, but _paranoid_?" she motioned to her splinted arm, "Does _this_ look like paranoia? I crash-landed on your planet half dead, and you think I'm _paranoid_?"

Sword looked affronted, "Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm only following orders. And furthermore, if you were in Sir Meta Knight's position, where you were actually _trying_ to protect the people you- _umf_!" a hard blow to the stomach knocked him to the ground. He scrambled back up, but even so, Rin towered over him, her face livid, "Don't you _ever_ say that again! I tried to protect the people important to me! I did my best! Oviously, it wasn't good enough! But don't you _ever _say that I never tried!!!"

With a final scathing glare, she stormed back into her room, as dignified as she could while still hobbling on a crutch.

"That bitch!" muttered Sword, rubbing the place where she had punched him. It would most likely develop a bruise sooner than later. One thing was for sure; this was not a woman to be trifled with.


	4. Chapter 4

"She _hit _you?" Blade asked incredulously, "Why?"

"Because I screwed up when I was talking to her," Sword said, taking off his helmet. It was Blade's shift now, and for that, Sword was grateful, "I accidentally implied that… well…"

"What did you say?"

"I basically told her that she didn't try to protect her family and that's the reason their dead,"

"Wow Sword. That's kind of harsh," Blade looked away from the glare that his friend gave him, "Why'd you say it?"

"I didn't _mean_ to. I mean, she was coming at me-"

Blade gave him an amused look.

"Not like that! She got mad at me because I had said that Sir Meta Knight had called her paranoid when she said that Nightmare was back. My tongue slipped and that's what came out of my mouth. Happy?"

"Not nearly. Since when do you get hit by a girl? And a crippled one at that?" Blade tried to hide a laugh

"Oh, shut it," Sword threw one of his shoes at Blade, who neatly dodged it, "She'd make a good opponent. She's certainly not one to hold back,"

Blade winced, "Nothing is more terrifying than being the target of an angry woman,"

"And an angry woman with decent fighting skills at that,"

They were turning this into a joke now, "You were lucky to make it out alive," Blade said, laughing.

The two fell silent when they heard movement behind them. Meta Knight was glaring at them. Not in anger, but in disapproval, "She could have sliced you to bits, but she didn't," he said softly

"Sorry Sir," Sword muttered, looking at his feet, "I shouldn't have said anything. But she-"

"Exploded, I am aware of that," Meta Knight finished for him, "But she is sensitive. At the moment, at least. Her only family has just been killed and she couldn't have stopped it. And then you lose your temper and hit her in a place where it really stings. Choose your words carefully, both of you," and with that, he left which, really didn't make any sense since they were all in one room and he certainly didn't go the door, but, since Meta Knight was Meta Knight, he could do things like that.

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Rin's eyes snapped open at a knock on the door. Her arm burned with pain and her leg was sore. She sat up and slung her sword across her back and pulled herself up with her crutch, "Come in," she said sleepily, now faintly annoyed with the constant knocking.

Meta Knight slid in silently, "Did you have a rough night?"

She glared, "You could say that. Being _paranoid_ does a number on ones nerves. Did you ask your knave to patrol my hallway just to insult me?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I did not. But he and Blade knight are expert mechanics. They will have your ship fixed soon enough and you can be on your way."

"Wait- they're doing WHAT?!" she yelled the last word and, before Meta Knight had any time to ask what she was so worried about, she had dashed out of the room, leaving the star warrior standing in her room, unsure if he should go after her, or wait to see what type of chaos would unfold.

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Rin managed to catch up to the knights' right as they had managed to make in to her crashed ship.

"Whoa!Whoawoahwoah! What do you think you're doing?" she asked as Blade shoved open the ship's hatch

"We're going to get this ship running so that you can leave," Blade explained simply

"You are not going to even consider thinking about touching my ship if I'm not there!" She shoved the hatch back down again

"And why is that?"

"I don't trust you at all. If you are going to be messing around with my ship, then I am going to be there as well," Rin glanced from one to the other, waiting for them to oppose this idea.

"Fine, have it your way," Blade said simply, Sword shot him a look, but it was ignored.

Rin reopened the hatch and slid in, she glanced at the floor of the ship, her eyes widening, "Wow, I've been looking for this," she picked something off of the floor of the ship. It looked like a toothpaste tube, except it was grey without any markings on it.

"Any what is that?" Sword asked, attempting to hide his curiosity

"It's a healing salve. It's able to cure almost any physical wound, not counting poison," She untied the splint from her arm and squirted a bit of the salve onto her finger. It was neon green on color, but faded to clear when Rin rubbed it onto her injured arm. After waiting a minute, Rin shook her arm, which was good as new. Smiling, she did the same with her leg, "That's better," she threw the now empty tube back into the ship.

"Where'd you find that?" Blade asked, lifting up the ships hood and peering inside

"Well it wasn't easy. These are so rare that the chances of actually hearing about one are like, one in… let's see…" She counted off her fingers, "Never,"

"So how did you come across something so valuable?" Sword asked, scooting under the ship to look at some of the ships wiring

"Foraging," came Rin's muffled reply. She was practically upside down in the ship, checking the wiring underneath the control panel, "The late queen of Ephira owned it previously, but while I was looking around her castle for supplies, I came upon it. I've already used it on my eye when I was blinded by a harpy,"

"Interesting," Sword said, not really paying attention as he fiddled with a small square box set into the main cable. He had hardly touched it when something shifted underneath his hand and a red light started flashing and beeping ominously.

"Oh shit…"

"What's wrong?" Blade and Rin asked in unison

"I think we had better start running," Sword said, backing away from the ship

"Hmm?" Rin hopped out of the ship and looked underneath, he eyes widened, "Oh crap," She grabbed Blade's wrist and started sprinting.

The beeping got louder and louder before Rin screamed, "HIT THE DECK!" and she shoved both of the knights to the grass as the ship exploded, going up in a fiery mushroom-shaped cloud and ear-shattering BOOM.

"Care to explain why the _hell_ there was a bomb attached to your ship?" Sword asked, only mildly infuriated

Rin scowled and shrugged "I dunno! I didn't know it was under there until _you_ triggered it!"

Sword scowled, "It's not like I _meant_ to blow your ship up! It was hardly fixable, judging from the damage that was done to the underside. It's better off obliterated!"

"So I'm stuck here?"

"Temporarily," Blade assured, sensing a possible fist fight in the near future, "Considering that your ship is irreparable, it may take some time to get a replacement,"

Rin looked at her surroundings, her ears were flat against her head and he tail had stopped swaying, "Peachy," she spat. A whistling sound, followed by a _thump_, followed then by a string of less-than-pleasant swears coming from Rin indicated a lever, most likely from the control panel, falling out of the sky and hitting Rin in the head. Sword could hardly restrain his laughter as Rin continued her swearing and head-rubbing, her sharp teeth gritted in pain.

"Are you alright?" Sword asked, still attempting to regain control of his laughter

"Nnnnnyyyyaaaa," a pain-filled moan was his reply

"…"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rin grunted, stepping on the lever, breaking it in two, "Hurt like hell though, at least _you _two have helmets," she rapped her knuckles softly on Sword's helmet. He batted her hand away, "Quit it,"

"Well, I suppose we should tell Meta Knight? We seems to be in charge of all GSA and other related paraphernalia around here," Rin's tail started swaying in a semi-upbeat mood again as she headed for the castle, not waiting for the knights to catch up.


	5. Chapter 5

Rin had been sitting in Samo's bar for about 5 minutes before Sword and Blade came in after her.

"Meta Knight wanted us to keep an eye on you, and we can't exactly do that with you walking off every chance you get," Sword said in her ear as he hopped onto a barstool (which so happened to be almost as tall as he was)

"I was walking away at 3 miles an hour," she smirked, not paying attention to the shot glass that Samo had placed in front of her, "Either you aren't thrilled with my presence here, or you just have very delayed reactions,"

"In Sword's case, it's the first reason," Blade said, waving Samo over, "I just don't see the point in breathing down your neck every step you take,"

Rin drained the glass, which had something similar to liquor in it, "Sword doesn't exactly like me very much, does he?"

"No, not necessarily,"

"_Hel-lo_?! I'm right here you know!" The taller of the two knights waved at them, "And truth be told, I'm not exactly one for having a great long sword pointed at my chest,"

"Well then we're even,"

"Even? Why?" Sword no longer sounded angry towards the wolf, just a bit curious

"I get to nearly decapitate you," she poured her second glass of liquor, "and you get to blow up my ship,"

"What kind of reasoning is that?!" Sword blurted, removing his helmet so that he too could have a drink, "I didn't blow it up!"

"Oh, alright," she poured her third glass, "you just triggered the bomb that was set underneath it,"

"…Touché,"

"That aside," Blade butted it, "Rin, what was it like on your home planet?"

Rin's brow furrowed, as if thinking, "Nothing like this place. The buildings were bigger, and there weren't as many trees. There's a great big ocean if you're willing to do a bit of walking,"

"Interesting,"

"You said you were on earth for a while," Sword said, his speech beginning to become a bit slurred, "what was that like?"

"Maddening,"

"How so?"

"There so ignorant to everything around them!" she griped, slamming her shot glass on the table, "The planet is swarming with demon beasts! The only reason that planet hasn't fallen is because those humans are too naive to see what's going on right in front of them!"

Sword chuckled a bit, "Really?"

"They've even given them little pet names, as if they're there just to be the topic of bedtime stories and stupid documentaries!"

"Oh, I've got to hear this," Blade groaned, reaching for the bottle of liquor. Rin swiped the bottle away from him, "I think you've had enough to drink,"

"Oh, and you haven't?"

"I obviously have a higher alcohol tolerance,"

"Psh. I'm fine," the knight said, making a lazy grab for the bottle, "Give it to me,"

"No," Rin started to giggle. She had to admit, even she was getting a bit tipsy. She shoved the bottle under her shirt, "Try taking it now, Mr. Out-Liquored-By-A-Girl,"

The two stared at her, totally dumbfounded, "You're a cruel, cruel woman," Sword said, glaring

Rin was laughing a lot now, "C'mon," she sighed, still grinning like an idiot, "Only thing that will sober you up now is sleep, a cold shower, and lots and lots of coffee,"

The knights looked at each other and then at Rin. After what seemed like a lot of internal conflict, they nodded.

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Rin plopped onto her bed, exhausted. After walking back to the castle with the knights, she had walked with them to their rooms, and then across the castle (avoiding the small mobs of Waddle Dee's placed throughout the place) to her room. Whether it was because she didn't have the adrenaline rush she got when battling demon beasts or it was because of the alcohol, she didn't have the energy she usually had.

Without even undressing, Rin shut her eyes, drifting into a drugged sleep.

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The transmitter rose out of the floor, slowly lighting up after years of disuse. A blue light began to appear in the center of the transmitter, engulfing the dark room it it's brightness. Energy crackled, interrupting the otherwise silent night.

Just as quickly as the light had appeared, it dissipated. But this time, a figure stood atop the transmitter.

Yamikage's red eyes darted to the television moniter, which had automatically turned on, but this time, Customer Service didn't occupy the moniter. This time, a figure, similar to a silhouette of a man, appeared on the screen, "I see you've made it to your destination," it said in a smooth voice, like molasses, "Do you understand your mission?"

The ninja nodded, "Capture the wolf girl, bring her to our master,"

"I wish you luck," the figure hissed, and the screen went blank. The transmitter disappeared into the floor once again, and Yamikage vanished, now in a search of a wolf.


	6. Chapter 6

**Reader Beware! This next chapter contains some very questionable stuff, and, should possibly go under R-ratings if this site had an R. Contains some sex references and lots 'o' blood. **

Rin sat bolt up right. Her ears twitched, listening to the silence. Her head hurt something awful, and she felt as if she would puke. She had sworn she had heard something, a rustling of some sort.

"Who's there?"

Something landed on the bed behind her. Her hand was halfway to the knife she had stuffed into her boot when a cloth covered her mouth and nose. It smelled of ethanol, and Rin immediately began to feel loopy. The room was spinning, and so was the dark figure that was leaning over her, waiting for her to spiral into unconsciousness. And then…

Blackness…

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Rin groggily arose from her drugged sleep, an even more severe pain in her head. She tried moving her hands, but found that they were bound. More alert now, she found that her feet were tied as well. A dirty rag was stuffed in her mouth, almost choking her.

She was leaned up against a tree, obviously in the forest. The glow of a small fire brought everything within 10 feet of her into focus. She saw the ninja sitting there, stoking the fire with a discarded stick.

"Good," he said gruffly, his eyes flickering to her for merely a moment, "You're awake,"

Rin tried to scream, but her shouts were blocked by the gag.

"I suppose you want to scream for help, try to escape, possibly utter a few swears in my direction," Yamikage chuckled, "I figure it would be best to let you know that were almost a mile from the village. No one is going to hear you,"

A deep growl emitted from Rin's throat. Anger boiled inside of her, she struggling with her bindings, but they held fast.

"Will you shut it?!" he shouted, picking up a small rock from the edge of the fire and throwing it at her. It hit her squarely between the eyes, "Your incessant mumbling is maddening!"

Rin was silent. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, obviously looking for a weapon of some sort she could use to her advantage. Nothing except Yamikage's katana would prove decent, and that was in a sheath strapped to his waist. She felt that all of her knives had been removed, so that plan had proved useless. There was nothing to do but sit and wait for something to happen.

-30 minutes later-

"You've been awfully quiet,"

The ninja waited for a response. Rin attempted to speak, even though the gag prevented from doing so.

"Oh, right. You still have the gag, don't you?" He walked over to her, unsheathing his katana, "When I remove the gag, you will not scream or resist in any way. Do you understand?"

Rin nodded

Yamikage pulled the gag from her mouth, "You're a real ass, you know that?"

"I've been called worse," the ninja shrugged, "But you might want to watch your mouth all the same. I would hate to do anything to scar that pretty face…"

Both frightened and appalled at the same time, Rin scowled, "You're the ninja that betrayed the star warriors, aren't you?"

"Took you long enough,"

"Yamikage, isn't it?"

He paused, staring at her out of his peripheral vision, "How do you know that?"

"My parents were star warriors. I paid attention to the letters they sent me,"

Rin suspected the Yamikage was grinning under his cloth mask, "I knew I recognized something about you," He turned to face her, their eyes meeting; "Your mother was Hisa, wasn't she?"

"What of it?"

"You have her sex appeal…"

Rin could feel bile rising in her throat, "ARE YOU SICK OR SOMETHING?!"

He chuckled darkly, "You have no idea," He went back to his fire, "I knew your mother, when I was a Star Warrior. She was one of the camp nurses, this was before she met your dear old daddy, see? Head nurse, too, now that I think about it. She was brilliant. Wasn't a single warrior in that camp whom she hadn't helped, myself included. She was so sweet, and gentle, even with a war going on. Foolishly, I ended up falling for her. But, of course, I was too late. Another warrior, your dad, had already made his move on her.

"He taught her to fight, when she wasn't working, that is. A few years later, she quite her job as a nurse and became a soldier. I hadn't stopped loving her even then. And now she's gone, along with that idiot of a man she called her husband," His voice turned bitter, and he glared back at Rin, "And now I have her daughter, here at my disposal. Bound and helpless…"

He stepped towards her, unsheathing his katana, "Well, if I couldn't have your mother…" the edge of his katana met her shoulder blade, he curved it downwards, tearing her sleeve away, "I can always have you…"

Something ignited in Rin's belly. He face burned. She despised being helpless, especially when she would most likely end up being raped and she couldn't do anything about it except scream. Her legs might be bound, but that didn't mean they were useless. She swung them upwards. They hit their mark. A very… erm… _sensitive_ spot on Yamikage's body. The ninja dropped his katana, sinking to his knees. The katana, landing point down in the dirt, was close enough to Rin for her to reach it; she sawed at the bindings around her wrists, grinning when they finally broke. She pulled the sword out of the ground and cut the bindings around her legs. The rope fell away as she stood up, but immediately she had to duck down again, as a shuriken meant for her head stuck in the tree behind her.

"You can have me when I'm dead!" she shouted, almost cursing herself for being unable to find anything original to say.

"What a tempting offer," Yamikage's voice came from everywhere and nowhere. He had disappeared, "I may just take you up on that," He appeared behind her, and Rin had to dodge quickly so as not to be run through by a small dagger that the ninja had clutched in his hand.

That was when the Calvary arrived.

Meta Knight, Sword and Blade seemed to appear out of nowhere. Either that, or Rin had just been so keen on keeping herself alive that she hadn't heard them coming.

"Yamikage! This ends now!" Meta Knight roared, unsheathing Galaxia

"Ha! Thank you!" Rin almost hated to admit it, but she had never been so glad to see the three. She was no match against a fully trained ninja, as she had never battled one before. She would only have stayed alive for a few more seconds if they hadn't shown up.

"Ah, Meta Knight, what a pleasant surprise," he said smoothly, his voice brimming with confidence, "I was wondering if you recognized our dear Ephirian over there. She was daughter of the head nurse, if you recall,"

"Yamikage, if you merely kidnapped her because you were infatuated with her mother, then you are even more despicable than I thought,"

"Says the man who killed his two best friends,"

That had done it. He had touched a nerve.

Meta Knight swung his sword downwards, an enormous blade of light erupting from the tip. With a roar like a waterfall, it ripped through the forest, nearing Yamikage. The ninja effortlessly dodged it, "You're losing your touch, old man,"

"Just as cocky as ever, I see,"

Smoke erupted all around Yamikage, the obvious use of a smoke pellet.

"You are just as much of a coward as ever, Yamikage,"

"_A coward, you say?"_ Rin felt a hand rough hand of her wrist, and something metallic on her neck. Yamikage had appeared behind her, one of his shurikens pressed against her neck, "I was not supposed to kill her; my master's orders stated so. But if you don't step down, I suppose I won't have a choice,"

The cogs in Rin's head were spinning furiously. What was she going to do? She was being held hostage! What was in her hand? Wait a minute….

Yamikage's katana was clutched in her hand, gleaming in the moonlight that filtered through the trees.

She acted so quickly she surprised herself, thrusting the sword backwards; she felt the tip bite into the ninja's flesh, grinding its way in one end and out the other.

The shuriken dropped from his hand. He fell to the ground; his fingers were curled around the hilt of his weapon, which was buried up to the hilt in his stomach. Blood was spilling from the wound, soaking his hands pooling underneath him. He made a hacking sound, more blood coming out of his mouth, soaking his cloth mask. He fell over sideways, and there, he lay still.

Rin wiped his blood from her hands, her face set, eyes showing no remorse for the body that lay at her feet, "Suddenly the universe became a little bit brighter place,"

"Are you alright?" Meta Knight asked

"Did you hear what he almost did to her?" Sword pointed at Rin, all noble formality gone from his voice, "He was going to rape her!"

"I wouldn't have put it past him," the old warrior responded, "His lust for Hisa bordered on obsession. It tore him apart on the inside when she married Lupus. Needless to say he was wicked before he met Hisa, but seeing her love another man may have been one of the many reasons he joined Holy Nightmare,"

"So you did know her?" she asked

"I had been one of her patients numerous times, yes,"

"Did you know my dad?"

"I knew him through Jecra, whom he was good friends with,"

Rin looked at her hand; slightly started that she was still holding Yamikage's katana. With a look of disgust, she dropped it on the ground, "Oddly enough, I could have gone a lifetime without discovering what I have tonight,"

A sound came from Meta Knight; it was almost like a small chuckle, "In some ways, I agree with you,"

**Well, I rather liked how this chapter turned out. Cookies to all that review! They will be chocolate chip and come with complementary milk! But remember, you have to review to get them!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I got SSBB for Christmas and, due to the fact that it has Meta Knight (who looks sexier than usual), Dedede (whom I have grown fond of (the SSBB version at any rate)), and Kirby, I have been motivated to actually start writing again. YAYZ. **

**P.S. This chapter contains incredibly funny awkwardness, and bad timing via Sir Meta Knight **

"So how did you guys find me?" Rin asked casually as the trio stepped out of the forest onto the dewy grass, "I blacked out, so I hardly remember anything before Yamikage told me about my mother,"

Meta Knight was silent for a moment before saying, "Even ninjas leave footprints,"

"_That_, and the fact that Sword and I were pacing in front of your room at that exact moment," Blade interjected.

Rin glanced at the shortest of the knights. Meta Knight averted his gaze, "That may have been a contributing factor as well,"

The anthro smiled, "I can't thank you guys enough. I might be dead right now if it wasn't for you," again she looked at Meta Knight, "Now do you believe me when I say that Holy Nightmare is up and running?"

"I believe that something suspicious is going on, but I will reserve judgment for now,"

Rin's smile fell. Her eyes turned slightly angry. Sure, she was still grateful for being saved, but she wanted to be believed too, "Well then," her voice was hard, "Who, pray, do you think Yamikage was referring to when he spoke of 'his master'?"

"I…" he halted in the grass, causing the other three to double back, "… I don't know,"

"You don't know?" she sighed, threw her hands up into the air, and groaned loudly before stomping back up to Castle Dedede by herself, "Ugh! Crazy old man,"

"It may not be my place to say so, sir," Sword began, "and I hate to side with her, but all of the signs are pointing to the fact that she's telling the truth. I mean look at the facts," he counted off his fingers, "She was just kidnapped and nearly raped by a ninja who we had assumed died with Nightmare, she lands on our planet half dead with a dislocated leg and her arm bone sticking out of her skin, and, when I went to take a look under her ship, there was a bomb attached to the underside. How do you explain that?"

Meta Knight turned his gaze away from his subordinates. His eyes had turned green, "I don't want to think that all that my fellow soldiers died for, that everyone on this planet suffered for, was for nothing," this was the first time Sword and Blade had ever heard there master sound so unsure.

He turned back around to face them, his eyes still green, "However, it seems as though the time has come to start fighting again. I will send a message to Arthur. In the meantime, I want at least one of you finding out more about Rin. She may be a useful ally in the future, and I am afraid that she will no longer speak to me,"

"I think that Blade should do that," Sword said, "since he's the only one out of the three of us who hasn't managed to enrage her yet,"

"I'd be happy to,"

"Actually," Meta Knight began (beneath his mask he was smirking), "I believe that that job should be entrusted to Sword Knight. It's time the two of you started acting your age around each other. Blade, I want you to go to the king's throne room and determine whether the transmitter has been in use or not,"

The two nodded (Sword a bit disappointed), "Yes sir," and split up

~*~

There was a knock on Rin's door, and the occupant groaned, somewhat annoyed. Couldn't she just be left alone?

"Come in,"

The door opened a bit and Sword Knight slid inside, "Is this a bad time?"

Rin shook her head, not meeting his eyes, "No, you're fine. I just have a lot on my mind is all,"

"You not going to punch me again, are you?"

She half-smiled, "Heh, sorry about that. You were just standing up for your master. I respect that,"

"He's not as bad at he seems, you know," Sword said, "He's just…" Sword paused, attempting to come up with words to describe Meta Knight

"Cold, distant, and in denial,"

"…Kind of…"

Rin was quiet for a minute before saying, "Does he think I'm crazy?"

The turquoise knight was taken aback for a moment, "What? Of course not! Actually, he's beginning to believe you,"

Her ears perked at this, "Really?"

"Yes. He told Blade and me that he would be sending a message to the remaining Star Warriors concerning it. You're not crazy, I assure you,"

She flopped onto her bed, staring at the ceiling, "Well, that's a load off of my mind. I was beginning to worry that no one on this planet would be able to help me defeat Nightmare,"

Sword lay back on his back as well, leaving about 5 inches between them.

The two sat in silence for the better part of the next 5 minutes. He knew Meta Knight had asked him to find out more about her, but right now, he was totally content just being with her. Finally, Rin said, talking both to Sword and herself, "I can't believe I didn't know about Yamikage. I mean, she ('she' meaning Rin's mother) never wrote about him, except for the part where he betrayed the GSA,"

Sword turned on his side to look at her, "Maybe she never knew that he liked her. Maybe they weren't even friends. Maybe," he looked away from her, "he was just her stalker…"

Rin's tail twitched. She pursed her lips (do wolves have lips?) and looked downwards, "Yeah, maybe,"

The door opened causing the two to jump. It was Meta Knight.

Now to someone (like Meta Knight) who had been out of the room until this point and was unsure of what had or had not transpired, this looked like a scene that you were not supposed to walk in on. Sword and Rin lying on the same bed, Sword staring at Rin expectantly, Rin looking slightly awkward.

"Erm…" said the mighty and mysterious and always well-composed star warrior, "Did I walk in on something I should not have?"

The two flushed red at the thought that Meta Knight had unintentionally put into their heads (Although with Sword it was harder to tell), and Sword began to stammer, "I—well—n-no sir. Is there a problem?" he slid off of the bed, nearing the other knight.

"Possibly. Blade has discovered something involving the transmitter, and I wanted you to come see," he turned to Rin, who had tugged the duffel bag of guns out from under her bed and was rummaging through it, "Rin, you are welcome to accompany us, seeing as how you are as involved with Holy Nightmare as we are,"

The wolf pulled out a good-sized chrome hand gun and checked the ammo. Once she was satisfied with it, she tied a holster (also courtesy of the duffel bag) around her waist and fitted the gun into it, "Lead the way,"

The three sped down the hallway at a fast walk, Sword and Meta Knight a few feet in front of Rin.

"Next time you try anything," Meta Knight began, whispering it so as to be out of the earshot of Rin (being a wolf, this meant that he had to be pretty darn quiet), "At least lock the door,"

"What?" Sword asked, equally as quiet yet still utterly dumbfounded, "I wasn't going to do anything. We were just talking,"

"I see," the tone in Meta Knight's voice caused Sword to question whether his master believed him or not, "I'm surprised. She is very pretty,"

Sword would not speak to anyone the rest of the way to the throne room.

**Meta is amusing when he jumps to conclusions. PLEASE REVIEW!!!**


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